Hi, we will be in Rome May 17-22 with 4 kids ages 12, 10, 8, and 2 and we want to see the Vatican and Colosseum. About half the guide books say to book a tour for these sites to avoid waiting in lines and half say that we should go with the flow of the weather this time of year. Details are making my head explode at this point. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Posted by
Dallas, Texas, USA
70 posts
We used the audio guide for the colosseum and we found it to be very helpful. Plus we wer able to stop and take our time at each stop on the guide's map.
We used a tour guide for the Vatican and agree it was 25 euros well spent. The Vatican museum is too large to attempt to cover alone. We were given those headphone/whisper radio devices, so hearing the tour guide was never a problem.
Posted by
NJ, USA
61 posts
Hi,
My partner and I were in Rome in late April and we booked a Vatican tour in advance...well worth it as there's SO much to take in. We didn't book a tour of the Colosseum and while walking to it were approached by a tourguide (legitimate) who said they still had room available on the next tour. We decided to go for it and it proved to be a great choice. We were planning on doing the Colosseum on our own but if we had, I feel we would have been unaware of so much detail.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
OP
tipton, IN, USA
21 posts
Thanks! I'm looking at When In Rome tours as they don't charge a "guide fee" for kids under 10 and they've been recommended by several others on this site. Did either of you use them?
Posted by
Shoreline, WA, USA
41 posts
If you can get the official Vatican tour - it is the way to go - absolutely no waiting in line and not near as expensive as the other tour options - but also probably not as personal. If not, I would recommend a tour just to simply shorten the wait time- the line was horrendous, and we were there just a few weeks ago. I'm sure it was close to a 2 hour wait when we arrived for our tour at 10:30. I suppose if you go later in the day as Rick suggests, it may be less - but it was really great to have a guide anyway.
We took a private tour of the Colliseum/Forum area and it was great - also worth it.